The best iPhone speed-up tip is also the worst

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For the past few weeks I’ve been on a mission. A mission to find the ultimate iPhone speed-up tip. And I think I’ve found it. The problem is, it’s also the worst in that it creates the most work in its aftermath.

I love how people think that there’s some switch or tweak you can do to iOS that will dramatically speed up an iPhone, especially an older iPhone that’s showing its age. I’m sorry to disappoint, but if there was such a toggle or tweak, I’m convinced that Apple would ship iOS with that already enabled.

The truth is that iOS is pretty well tuned to offer excellent performance under a wide variety of conditions.

But there’s also little doubt that over time, a speedy new iPhone turns into a sluggish old iPhone. Load apps and data and several layers of iOS updates onto the device, and it all takes a toll on performance.

But there is a way to speed things up, and speed things up dramatically.

And it’s quite simple to do…

Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings

And after erasing, you start the process of setting up the iPhone as a new device, and not recovering from a backup. And if you’ve been using the old iPhone for a year or so, the performance boost is going to be quite noticeable.

Note: I also think that this is the best way to set up a new iPhone, although it makes the process much more painful than just loading up a backup.

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But before you rush to do that, beware.

This is a massive hassle.

While most apps are easy to download and reinstall, it’s impossible to do a partial recovery, and this means that you’re starting from a completely clean slate. Also, security apps (such as Google Authenticator) and apps such as banking apps, will probably need setting up from scratch, and this could mean a lot of time (and possibly making phone calls to banks, especially if you forgot to deactivate the old app before wiping the system).

So it’s decision time. Pay the price now, or down the line. The price will still need to be paid.